Bill bank



June 3, 1930- M. Gor-:PEL 1,760,901

BILL BANK Filed Jan. 25, 1928 Patented June 3, 1930 'YATE wel rar

MARGARET (EOE-PEL, GF NEVI YORK, LY.

BLL BANK means to enable thereby a bill bank to be provided which willinduce thrift. F or this purpose, a container is provided having anopening for the insertion of the bills or notes, which bills, wheninserted, rest temporarily upon yieldable rests, until the cover isclosed,

which acts to permit a followerk to press down the bills past the rests,and thereby bring the bills into a position where they cannot beextracted from the container, the cover closinol at the same time theentrance openot` the container. To enable the operation of thecollection of bills in the container to be orderly, means are providedfor temporarily holding the bills in position most desirable to carryout the j ust-described operation. Also a counter linger may be operatedby the pressed down bill. The yieldable steps support the edge of thebill, as also to some extent the linger or' the counter. Means hold theother edge so that the iirst-named edge is properly supported on thesteps and linger. rEhe Jfollower presses down, and, by the bill beingbetween the follower and the steps and hnger, a relative stillness andrigidity is given to the bill edge.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a comparatively small,compact and `imple form of savings bank for use in the home in whichbills of one dollar or other denomination, may be treasured up andcarried, when full`r to a banking house or institution which if desiredmay issue the small bank boxes; there to be opened and the contentsplaced to the account of the holder of the bank box; to provide aninternal construction of bank boX in which the bills will be neatly andtightly held in a compact stack and obliged, in the act o1 stacking tooperate a register for the purpose otl totaling and showing the numberot bills placed in the bank.

l/Vith the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will bemore fully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointedout in the claims appended hereto.

ln the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like or correspondingparts throughout tlie several views,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an improved bill bank constructed inaccordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line 2 2 inFigure 1.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 2%3 in Figure 2.

Figure l is a top plan View with parts broken away. i

Figure 5 is a vert-ical section taken on the line 5 5 in Figure 2.

Figure 6 shows in perspective a bill in folded condition ready to beplaced in the bank, and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary section showing a slight modification.

Referring more particulai y to the drawings, a box or container providedin w iich 7 designates the liront wall, 8 the side walls and 9 the rearwall.

The bottom 10 is hinged, as indicated at 11 in Figure 2, to the loweredge of the rearwall 9. A supplemental or Jfalse bottom 12 is hinged, asindicated at 13 to the main bottom 10 near its tree edge. The falsebottom 12 is designed to be held yieldably by a leaf or other form ofspring lll in an inclined or diagonal position within the containerbody.

In Figure 2 is indicated a stack of bills 15 as received directly uponthe inclined false bottom 12. The extreme tree edge or" the main bottom10 is provided with the upwardly and inwardly turned hook 16 tocooperate with the latch ring 17, shown more particularly in Figure 5.This latch ring is provided with a gap 18 to permit of the escape of thelatch 16; and the ring is suitably supported as by an arm 19 formed inone piece therewith and bent radially of the ring and to and about theinwardly projected end of the register shaft 20, which has a bearing inthe front wall 7 of the boX.

The latch ring 17 is thus adapted to turn with the register wheel 21,which is secured to the shaft 2O forwardly of the front wall 7. Thewheel 21 may be provided with a series of numbers, say from 1 to 51exposed through an opening 22 made in the supplemental front wall 28which houses and encloses the registering mechanism. A step by stepmovement is imparted to the register wheel 21 by the action of the pawlor dog 24 engaging the inclined ratchet teeth 25 on the periphery of theregistry wheel 21. rlllhe pawl extends downwardly from an actuatinglever 26 pivoted, as indicated at 27 to either or both walls 7 and 23and situated between such walls. The lever is normally held elevated bythe action of a yieldable spring 28 which may be secured also to eitherfront wall and bears beneath the lower edge of the lever 26. A slot 29in the front wall 7 permits of the passage, and free vertical play ofthe lug or inturned end 30 of the lever 26, this end preferably having abeveled nose 31 forl the easy passage of the bills 15 thereover.

On the interior of the front container wall 7 are provided one or morekeepers or shelves 32 of inuslin, paper, thin, resilient metal or otherflexible material forming temporary rests for the bills and havingsecuring portions aliixed to the front wall and operative portionsextending downwardly and inwardly for the purpose of producing stops toarrest the bills in their upward movement after they have once passedbelow the stops.

ln its upper portion the front wall 7 is provided with the horizontallyelongated slot 33 of a length to receive the folded bill. lt will benoted that the supplemental front wall 23 terminates below this slot 83,so as not to interfere with the introduction of the bill. rhe slot 83 isnormally secreted by the front flange 34 of the flanged cover 35. Thiscover is hinged or pivoted to the container or to the rear wall 9thereof as for instance shown at 3G. The top of the container is closedby a permanent top 37. lVithin the container is a follower 38 possessingsufficient weight to normal y s ving down to the position shown inFigure 2 and to compress the stack of bills 15. rlhe follower' may be ofany appropriate construction being pivoted, as indicated at 39 to theside walls or other portions of the box and having a slotted forwardedge Ll0, shown in Figure 4l, to slide freely past the inwardlyprojecting end 30 of the register operating lever 26.

ln the use of the device, the normal condition of the bank is shown inFigure 1, the appearance simulating that of an ordinary box. To insert abill, the bill may be folded as shown in Figure G. The bill is firstfolded upon a central transverse line 41 and then again folded upon thequarter transverse line lf2, thereby producing a compact condition whichavoids the necessity for great size in the construction of the billbank. The foldedl bill is flattened, and the hinged cover 35 raised tothe dotted line position, shown in Figure 2. rlhe raising of this coverwill simultaneously expose the front slot 83 and raise the follower i8as such follower is coupled by the flexible string or other connectioni8 to the lid. The string if desired can pass freely through an openinglll made in the rear wall 9. The raised position of the follower isindicated in dotted lines in Figure 2. lV hen the bill is introducedthrough tl e slot 33, it will be inserted beneath the follower.

Consequently when the cover 85 is subsequently returned to the closedposition, the follower will fall by gravity and force the billdownwardly and onto the false bottom 12 and stack 15. ln so doing thebill will be forced past the shelves 32 which will yield for the purposebut promptly spring outward to interfere with any bulging or swelling`of the bills upwardly beyond this point which might permit their escapethrough the slot. Moreover the bill in passino' down will strike the end30 of the lever and depress this end slightly as permitted by the bottomof the slot 29. There results through lthe dog and ratchet mechanism 25an angular movement in the register wheel 21. This angular movement willbring the neXt sub-division of the wheel opposite the opening 22 in thebox and the amount of the movement will be the distance between theteeth 25. As soon as the bill has passed the lever end, the spring 28returns the released lever to the upper position and places the pawl incondition for the next actuation.

rlhe bill bank may be constructed of any size and possess any desiredcapacity. A compact bank for use in Christmas savings funds will holdfifty-one dollar bills and the register wheel 21 will be provided withfiftyone sub-divisions, the fifty-first and last subdivision beingopposite the gap or slot 18 in the latch ring 17, so that as soon as thefiftyiirst device is presented at the opening 22, the hook 1G on themain bottom 10 will have arrived opposite the gap 18. The hook will thusbe released from the latch ring and the bottom 10 may be either manuallyshift- 'ik ed down to the dotted line position shown in Figure 2, or itwill be immediately and automatically projected to this position todisgorge the stack of bills 15 which by their accumulated pressure willbe responsible for the automatic action referred to.

As the bills accumulate, the false bottom 12 will be forced downwardlyin opposition to the action 0f the spring 14 until the false bottom isvery close throughout to the main bottom l0. rl`he false bottom will,however, in the early stages and almost throughout the entire stackingoperation, hold the bills in an inclined position, so that tl e forwardedges thereof are held lowermost and the bills are precipitated withthese forward lower edges downwardly against the stops 32 and theprojecting end of the register lever to insure the registeringoperation. The follower 38 is pivoted favorably to secure this sameresult and to cooperate with the inclination given the false bottom.

r`Ehe opening 22 may be also used for the purpose of inserting aninstrument to pry loose a hook or fastening for the main bottom l whenthe bank is filled to capacity.

in Figure 7 is shown a preferred form of bill follower 38, which ishinged at 39E Keyed to the pivot of this hinge device but at theexterior of the box is a rearwardly ein tending member 39h, which issecured to the depending part of the cover 35, either at its rear or atthe two lateral sides. Thereby a positive connect-ion between theoperable cover and the bill follower 38 is obtained. As the cover isopened, the follower 38 is raised to the dotted position, as shown inFigure 2, and as the cover descends or closes, the follower 8S movesdown to full line position shown in Figures 2 and 7 The false bottom isinclined so the entering end of the bills will rest on the false bottoma its most upper end, and the other or last entering edge of the billwill rest on the yieldable and resilient steps 32. rlhis, of course,takes place when the cover is open and the follower is out of the way,as when it is in the position of the dotted lines shown in Figure 2.Then the cover is closed, and the follower 38 presses the ratherstiffened edge of the folded bill downwardly, the yieldable steps 32permitting this, and, at the same time, the edge of the bill pressesupon and tast the finger 30. The forked shaped end the follower givesstiffness to the edge of he bill, which enables this operation to bearried out. Once the bill pressed by the Lollcwer is forced past thefinger 30, the bill is brought into a positiop where it cannot be takenout of the bank. The false bottom l2 is not essential, but I have foundthat the use of it has the advantage of placing the bills into positionfor the operation described. It is not essential to fold or crease thebills, as the bank can be made the full size of a bill, as now made, orwhen smaller than now issued. The bank itself can be suitably decoratedat its exterior and can be shaped like a treasure chest or in the shapeof a book. rlhe cooperation of the follower and nger rest gives the edgeof the bill a stiffness and rigidity so it can operate a counter. A

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in thedetails of construction and design of the above specifically describedembodiment of this invention withont departing from the spirit thereof,such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of thefollowing claims l/Vhat is claimed is l. A bill bank comprising asubstantially closed container having an entrance opening for the bills,a yieldable rest within the container for the edge of a bill wheninserted into the container through the entrance opening, a false cover,means for positioning the inserted bills into an inclined position withthe entering edge of the bills below the entrance opening and the rearedge of the bills resting on the yieldable rest, a follower coupled tothe false cover, and moved out of the path of the inserted bills whenthe false cover is open, and moved down upon the inserted bills to pressthe bills past the yieldable rest and below the same, upon the closingof the false cover, and means stiffening the edge of a paper bill andholding it temporarily rigid.

2. A bill bank comprising a substantially closed container having anentrance opening for the bills, a yieldable rest within the containerfor the edge of a bill when inserted into the container through theentrance opening, a false cover, means for positioning the insertedbills into an inclined position with the entering edge of the billsbelow the entrance opening and the rear edge of the bills resting ont-he yieldable rest, a follower coupled to the false cover, and movedout of the path of the inserted bills when the false cover is open, andmoved down upon the inserted bills to press the bills past the yieldablerest and below the same, upon the closing of the false cover, and anopenable bottom for the container for the removal of the accumulatedbills from the bank.

8. A bill bank comprising a substantially closed container having anentrance opening for the bills, a yieldable rest within the containerfor the edge of a bill when inserted into the container through theentrance opening, a false cover, means for positioning the insertedbills into an inclined position with the entering edge of the billsbelow the entrance opening and the rear edge of the bills rest-ing onthe yieldable rest, a follower coupled to the false cover, and moved outof the path of the inserted bills when the false cover is open, andmoved down upon the inserted bills to press the bills past t-heyieldable rest and below the same, upon the closing of the false cover,an openable bottom for the container, latch means for holding the bottomclosed container, having an entrance open' ing for the bills, adiagonally disposed shelf inclined relative to the opening for holdingat its free end the entering edge of the inserted bill, and a movablefollower for pressing upon the rear edge of the inserted bill for movingit upon the lower end of the inclined shelf.

5. A bill bank comorising a substantially closed container having' abill receiving opening', means pivot-ing the insert-d bill at its endnearest the opening', and means pivoted to the container at a partnearer the other end of the inserted bill, said means adapted to bemoved above the opening and down upon the said pivoted end of theinserted bill.

G. An improved bill bank comprising a .substantially closed container,having an entrance portion for the bills, a piveted spring presseddiagonal shelf for receiving a stack of accumulated bills, the shelfbeing' inclined to face the opening to receive its upper end theinserted edge of the inserted bill, and a follower for pressing upon therear edge of the'bills nearest the opening and stack the deposited billsupon the diagonal shelf.

7. A bill bank comprising a substantially closed container, having` anentrance portion for the bills, an inclined shelf for holding the stackof deposited bills and to receive the entering edge of the bill, amovable follower for pressing' upon the inserted bill, and a stop meansin the container below the opening for permitting the downward movementthe rear edge of the deposited bill onto the shelf, but restraining thebackward movement of the same.

8. it. bill bank comprising a substantially closed container, having anentrance portion for the bills, a shelf for holding` a stack ofdeposited bills and to receive the entering edge of the bill, a movablefollower for pressing upon the inserted bill, stop means in thecontainer below the opening for permitting the downward movement of thedeposited bill onto the shelf, but restraining the backward movement ofthe same, and means stiiiening` the rear edge of the paper bill andhold-` ing it temporarily rigid.

9. A bi`l bank comprising a substantially closed container, having anentrance opening for the bills and a rest` within the container belowthe opening` for the rear edge of a bill when inserted into and throughthe entrance opening, a false cover, means for positioning the insertedbill into an inclined position with the entering edge of the bills below.the entrance opening and the rear edgeof the bills near the opening` onsaid rest,

and a follower coupled to the false cover and moved out of the path ofthe inserted" bill entering the opening when the false cover is open,and moved down upon the inserted bill to press the rear edge of the`bill below the opening upon the closingof the false cover.

10. A bill bank comprising a substantially means for positioning theinserted bill into l an inclined )osition with the enterinf edOe of thebill below the entrance opening and the rear edge of the bill resting onsaid rest, a follower coupled to the false cover and moved out of thepath of the inserted bill when being inserted when the false cover isopen, and moved down upon the inserted bill to press the rear edge ofthe bill past. the positioningv rest and below the same upon the closingof the false cover, and a pivotal bottoni in the container for theremoval of the accumulated bills from the ank.

ll. A bill bank comprising a substantially7 closed container, having anentrance opening for the bills, a rest within the container for the edgeof a bill when inserted into the container through the entrance opening,a false cover, means for positioning the inserted bill into an inclinedposition with the entering edge of the bill below the entrance openingand the rear edge of the bill resting on the rest, a follower coupled tothe false cover and moved out of the path of the bill when being`inserted when the false cover is open, and moved downward upon theinserted bill to press the bill past the rest and below the saine uponthe closingof the false cover,` a pivotal bottoni for the container,latch means for holding the bottom closed, and a supplemental front wallspaced from the front wall of the container for supporting such latchmeans.

In testimony whereof l my signature.

MARGARET GOEPEL.

iii]

